ever it might be, still existed. But before long they stopped in a small clearing and his captors gave him some parched corn to eat and ate some themselves. Then the Indian who had led the way disappeared through the forest toward where David thought the village must lie. The boy stretched himself upon the ground and, watched sourly by the remaining savage, soon slept the sleep of exhaustion.
He awoke with a hand tugging at his shirt. The Indian who had gone away was back, and when David had got sleepily to his feet they went on once more, this time toward the village. But a few minutes brought them to the edge of the forest, and there, no more than a half-mile distant, stood the palisade. And so, tired and discouraged, ragged and bruised, David came again to the gate in the fort and back into captivity. Past the Indian hovels and the snarling dogs, observed incuriously by the inhabitants, past the great lodge of the sachem, he was led to his own wigwam and there, pushed ungently through the entrance by his captors, he fell to the ground and knew no more for a long while.
When he awoke it was late afternoon. He was sore and weary, and, although he had no
